PFG Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 63.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,078 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 31,932 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of PFG Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $15,441,917,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $29,746,764,000 after buying an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $68,980,354,000 after buying an additional 6,374,756 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 39,754.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $841,725,000 after buying an additional 6,010,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,606,670,000 after buying an additional 5,336,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $15.95 on Friday, reaching $171.95. The company had a trading volume of 64,665,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,802,202. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.54 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $147.85 and its 200 day moving average is $141.42. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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